Grey Horse Growth and Learning

20/07/2026

20/07/2026

At Grey Horse Growth and Learning we're having an Open Afternoon on Saturday August 1 in recognition of Equine Assisted Services International Day.

EASDay is actually on July 29, the day Lis Hartel won Silver in Dressage at the Helsinki Olympics in 1952. Not only the first woman to win a medal in Olympic Dressage, she was paralyzed from polio below the knees. She went on to win Silver again in the 1956 Stockholm Olympics. After retiring from competition she created the Lis Hartel Foundation for therapeutic riding and went on to promote and support equine therapy services.

Today equine therapy is available from many organisations and is well recognised for its physical and emotional benefits. Come along on August 1 to find out what our team of four can offer to both groups and individuals.

19/07/2026

Took Smoke for a walk down the bush today. I expected her to be nervous in the new environment but she was really happy to take it all in and investigate.

15/07/2026

HETI (Horses in Education and Therapy International) celebrating Equine Assisted Services Day - coming up on July 29

05/07/2026

I'm making a dead hedge by the horses' paddock. Apparently they're an ancient way of creating fences. Once it's finished it will not only add extra support to the wire fence, it will provide a space for all this year's prunings and dead wood that would otherwise need to be burned off. Dead hedges are generally filled up with prunings and natural debris, then are left to rot down, or continually refilled and remade. Not sure how it's going to turn out, but it's well away from the house, so it shouldn't be a fire risk. And they're supposed to create sustainable wildlife habitat. I suspect the wildlife most likely to benefit might just be the rabbits ...
All the same, it feels like a good alternative to burning off.

03/07/2026

Message from HETI (Horses in Education and Therapy International)

On 29 July, we invite you to join us in celebrating International Equine Assisted Services Day.

Why 29 July?
This date honours the legacy of Lis Hartel, the remarkable Danish rider who won two Olympic silver medals in 1952 and 1956 despite being paralysed by polio. She became the first woman to win an Olympic dressage medal and demonstrated to the world what determination, partnership with an equine, and belief in possibilities can achieve. Her achievements inspired generations and contributed to the development of therapeutic riding and Equine Assisted Services worldwide.

We particularly appreciate that Lis Hartel won a silver medal. While gold often symbolises a final victory, silver reminds us that growth is an ongoing journey. In Equine Assisted Services, our work is rarely about reaching a finish line. It is about helping people take the next step, overcome the next challenge, and discover new possibilities. In that sense, Lis Hartel's story beautifully reflects the values at the heart of our field.

How can you participate?
• Print and display the International Equine Assisted Services Day flyer at your centre, stable, clinic, school, or office.
• Take a photo with your team, participants, volunteers, practitioners, equines, or supporters.
• Share a story about the impact of Equine Assisted Services in your community.
• Post on social media and help spread awareness of the many ways Equine Assisted Services support people around the world.

Most importantly, please use the hashtag:


This will allow us to find, share, and celebrate your posts throughout the day.

Whether you work in therapy, education, learning, sport, social care, research, or equine welfare, this is an opportunity to show the world the breadth and value of Equine Assisted Services.
Together, let us celebrate the people, equines, practitioners, volunteers, families, and organisations who make this field so special.

02/07/2026

Remember the Nokia? Smart phones took over. And now the social media ban. I'm perplexed that the conversation still seems to be more about banning young people from using social media than about what has inevitably come beforehand. Or what should be happening long before kids find themselves targets for abuse, scams, hate speech, paedophiles and all the rest of the anti-social media nasties that we know they have to deal with. Before kids were banned from social media they had to have access to social media, through, let's say, a phone. Who bought the phone? Who pays for the plan? Who handed the phone to the child? How was the subject of having a phone of their own raised? How was it discussed? What guidance in how to use a smart phone responsibly was given? What dangers were warned about? What boundaries were set about how the phone was to be used? What agreements were made about what was legitimate use of the phone? What access to the phone was to be shared?
Most parents of today's teenagers were brought up before smart phones and techbros became integral parts of our lives, so they never had to reckon with the complexity of the problems their kids have to deal with. Governments should be dealing with the techbros, and parents need to have help in working out how to navigate the whole smart phone dilemma. How can parents do it better? And not alienate their kids in the process?
There are on-line resources available for parents, but the media attention is all on banning, not on helping parents to prepare kids for using phones responsibly.
Comments?

30/06/2026

HETI (Horses in Education and Therapy International) is celebrating International Equine Assisted Services Day on July 29th.

Grey Horse Growth and Learning will be participating in the event by offering an informal Open Day where you can meet the horses and find out about the work they do with school groups and individual clients. Details to come.

Paraphrasing HETI: 'Help spread awareness of the many ways Equine Assisted Services support people around the world. This is an opportunity to show the world the breadth and value of Equine Assisted Services and celebrate the people, equines, practitioners, volunteers, families, and organisations who make this field so special.'
Use the hashtag:

29/06/2026

Wonderful weather yesterday for a walk with Smoke, just along the narrow track by the road here in Smiths Gully. We only went for a short way, as she's still nervous about going out without a horse buddy. Just as we turned to go home, I could see a party of walkers coming round the corner, so I stood with her off to one side to let her watch them go past. She was a little anxious with the attention as they filed through one by one - we said hello and passed comments about how lovely a day it was for a walk ... then more walkers, and even more walkers came into view. All filing past and taking photos ... in the end it turned out to be about 35 people from a Melbourne walking group. She wasn't comfortable, but she behaved perfectly and as the last couple went by we followed them up the track and made our way home. And of course, by the gate, there was Jet, making human friends over the fence, having his photo taken, revelling in the attention from all the walkers who had all stopped to give him a hello and a stroke.
Top marks to Smoke for coping well with an unusual experience, and top marks to Jet for his ability to put himself out there and make friends whenever he can.

26/06/2026

Loving the responses I get when I invite the school group to do this exercise. First they pick a card that attracts them from the 'horse card' pack. Then I ask them, first what they can see (observation) and then what they think is going on (interpretation). This makes sure they're really looking closely at what they're seeing. Then I ask them to recreate the 'feel' of the pictures using chalk and pastels - not the detail - in 10 minutes. Love the results. Shout-out to Mark Lytle from EAGALA for inspiring this activity.